The history of the IFCC is
fundamentally rooted in the story of the Old Catholic Church of the
Netherlands. So, we have included here a brief history and explanation of
the Old Catholic Church. However, our Apostolic lineage also derives from the Roman
Catholic Church(in Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines), the Anglican
Communion and various Eastern Orthodox Churches (Syrian, Russian, Greek,
etc.). In the future we will expand upon our historical connection with
these other ancient churches, as well as more recent developments which led to
the establishment of the IFCC as a unique expression of Catholicism in the
modern world.

In the meantime, please visit
http://www.concentric.net/~cosmas/indcath.htm for “A Brief History of Independent Catholicism in North America” by
Alan R. Kemp (ed.). Here the historical link to the Roman, Anglican and Eastern
Orthodox traditions is explored.

Old Catholics: A
Historical Sketch

Who We Are

The Old Catholics are a body
of Christians committed to the Person of Jesus Christ and His teaching. We
accept and believe the testimony of His Apostles, eyewitnesses of His Life,
Death and Resurrection from among the dead. They passed on to succeeding
generations their own testimony about Jesus Christ and His life. By the
proclaiming of His Gospel and the giving of their own testimony (called the
Apostolic Tradition), the Church which the Lord instituted was built up. Old
Catholics are an historic part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
and have their origins in the Ancient Catholic Church of the Netherlands. We
will examine the traditions of the Western and Eastern lineage herein. The Old
Catholic Church of the United States bears its Apostolic lineage from the
Ancient Catholic Church of the Netherlands, the Syrian Jacobite (Oriental)
Orthodox Church, and the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Ancient Catholic
Church of the Netherlands

The area of Europe known as
the Low Countries was missionized by St. Willibrord in the Seventh Century
firmly establishing the Catholic Faith and Tradition in the Netherlands and
other countries in that region. Early on, three principal dioceses were
established in the cities of Utrecht, Deventer and Haarlem to administer the
affairs of the Church in the territory. Utrecht eventually became the
archiepiscopal see with supervision over Deventer and Haarlem. Assenting to a
petition made by the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III and Bishop Heribert of
Utrecht, Blessed Pope Eugene III, in 1145 A.D. granted the Cathedral Chapter of
Utrecht the right to elect successors to the See in times of vacancy. This
privilege was confirmed by the fourth Council of the Laterian in 1215. The
autonomous character of the Ancient Catholic Church in the Netherlands was
further demonstrated when a second grant by Pope Leo X, Debitum Pastoralis,
conceded to Philip of Burgundy, 57th Bishop of Utrecht, that neither he nor his
successors, nor any of their clergy or laity, should ever, in the first
instance, have his cause evoked to any external tribunal, not even under
pretense of any apostolic letters whatever; and that all such proceedings should
be, ipso facto, null and void. This papal concession, in 1520, was of the
greatest importance in defense of the rights of the Church.

The Church in the
Netherlands and the Reformation

Armed with the protection of
the papal concessions, the Church in the Netherlands continued to minister even
through the Reformation. During this period of strife, the Church in the
Netherlands, as in many other countries, was forced to "go
underground" in order to survive. But survive and remain extant, it did.
Eventually, the Archbishop of Utrecht and other Church leaders reached an
informal agreement with the civil government, whereby it could again function
openly without interference from the Reformers.

The Move from
Isolation

Following the First Vatican
Council in 1870 (at which the hierarchy of the Church of Holland were refused
admittance), a considerable dissent among Catholics, especially in Germany,
Austria and Switzerland, arose over the dogma of papal infallibility. The
dissenters, while holding the Church in General Council to be infallible, could
not accept the proposition that the Pope, acting alone, in matters of faith and
morals is infallible. Many formed independent communities that came to be known
as Old Catholic. They are called Old Catholics because they sought to adhere to
the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church of the post-Apostolic era. The
Old Catholic communities appealed to the Archbishop of Utrecht who consecrated
the first bishops for these communities. Eventually, under the leadership of the
Church of Holland, these Old Catholic communities joined together to form the
Utrecht Union of Churches. The Utrecht Union of Churches approbated, in 1908,
the establishment of a mission in Great Britain. Archbishop Gerardus Gul of
Utrecht consecrated Father Arnold Harris Matthew, a resigned Roman Catholic
priest, Regionary Bishop for England. It was Bishop Mathew's charge to minister
among Anglo-Catholics and Roman Catholics impeded from full participation in the
life and sacraments of the Church. Toward this end, Bishop Mathew consecrated
Austrian nobleman, Prince Rudolph Edward de Landes Berghes, in 1913 for work in
Scotland. Prince Rudolph (1873-1920) left England for the United States at the
onset of World War I.

Arnold
Harris Mathew

(1852-1919)

first
Old Catholic bishop

of
Great Britain

In the United States

Bishop de Landes Berghes, in
spite of great difficulty and isolation from the Utrecht Union of Churches, due
to Bishop Mathew withdrawing from the Union, was able to plant the roots of an
independent expression of Catholicism in America. He elevated to the episcopacy
two priests, Carmel Henry Carfora and William Francis Brothers. Each of these
bishops, in his own manner, continued the mission begun by Bishop de Landes
Berghes. With the passing of these original organizers from the ecclesiastical
scene, the Old Catholic Church in the United States has evolved from a fairly
centralized administration with structured oversight of ministry to a local and
regional model of administration with self-governing dioceses and provinces more
closely following St. Ignatius of Antioch's concepts of the Church as a
communion of communities each laboring together to proclaim the message of the
Gospel.

Another Old Catholic priest,
Fr. Joseph Renee Vilatte, began his minsitry in Wisconsin, which led to the
establishment of Old Catholic familial lines making us brothers and sisters to
the Oriental Orthodox Churches in Middle East. Fr. Vilatte ultimately became
Bishop Vilatte, consecrated bishop under the authority of Mar Ignatius Peter
III, Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch. He was consecrated a bishop by Mar Julius,
Metropolitan of the Independent Catholic Church of Ceylon, Goa and India, who
was assisted by Mar Paul Athanasius, Bishop of Kottayam and Mar George Gregorius,
Bishop of Niranam (who was later cannonized as a saint in the Indian Orthodox
Church). He then returned to the United States, where his Episcopal lines would
stand alongside those of Bishop Mathew, in securing valid lines of Apostolic
Succession, both of which the Bishops of the International Free Catholic
Communion share.

Joseph
René Vilatte

first
to bring independent Catholicism

to
North America

Recent Developments

At the suggestion of the
Archbishop of Utrecht, the Old Catholic bishops in the United States established
the Council of Independent Catholic Bishops as a means to more closely
coordinate ministry and serve as a forum for better communication and exchange
of ideas and planning. Since its founding in 1982, the Council has achieved some
success in bringing a greater sense of unity and purpose and action to the Old
Catholic hierarchy in the United States.

Old Catholic or Old
Roman Catholic

Old Catholic and Old Roman
Catholic are terms used to identify Old Catholic churches and parishes in the
United States who are not necessarily affiliated with ethnic Old Catholic
communities such as the Polish National Catholic Church. The original diocese
established by the late Archbishop Carfora in the 1920's in Chicago was called
the Old Roman Catholic Diocese in the United States. Because of this, nearly all
of our Catholic communities are called "Old Catholic" or "Old
Roman Catholic".

What Old Catholics
Believe

The faith of Old Catholics
is simply that of the Catholic Church as taught by the Church from apostolic
times to the present day. The ecumenical Councils clearly express what Old
Catholics believe without the need for apology or excuse. In 1823, Archbishop
Willibrord van Os of Utrecht reiterated adherence to the unchanging doctrine of
Catholicism in the following words: "We accept without any exception
whatever, all the Articles of the Holy Catholic Faith. We will never hold nor
teach, now or afterwards, any other opinions than those that have been decreed,
determined and published by our Mother, Holy Church..." Thus, Old
Catholics, tracing their Apostolic Succession through the Roman Catholic Church
to the Apostles, participated in the full sacramental ministry of the Church.
The Rule of Faith of Old Catholics is faithful adherence to Sacred Scripture and
the Apostolic Tradition.

How Do They Differ?

In matters of discipline,
administration and procedure, Old Catholics differ from the Roman Catholic
Church. For example, clerical celibacy (which is a matter of discipline) is
optional among Old Catholics. Married men may be ordained and in many of our
dioceses clergy may, with prior episcopal consent, enter into Holy Matrimony
after ordination. Liturgical expression is also a matter of discipline
determined by the local bishop. Consequently, many Old Catholic communities have
adopted the liturgical renewal promulgated following the Second Vatican Council
while still maintaining Tridentine liturgy, in Latin or direct translation into
classical or modern English, in those parishes that desire it. Eastern rite Old
Catholic parishes exist as well, which follow the ancient liturgies of that rich
tradition. Because Old Catholic communities are small, they are able to success
fully implement the Ignatian model of the Church referred to earlier. This
concept views the faithful with their clergy and bishop as a community or family
in loving concern for each other and each working together to live the
Scriptural commands in their daily lives as Christians bringing the love of
Christ to others. Old Catholic communities utilize their size and lack of highly
detailed structure to the very best advantage organizationally by their ability
to expedite decisions affecting the sacramental and community life of the
faithful, within the revelation and authority of Holy Scripture and Apostolic
Tradition.

Other Distinctions

There are other distinctives
by which Old Catholic communities are differentiated from Roman Catholic
parishes. The matter of papal infallibility defined by Vatican Council I is a
non-issue for Old Catholics, since we are not under papal jurisdiction. All Old
Catholic communities accord the Holy Father that respect due him as Successor of
St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles and Patriarch of the West. Old Catholics
adhere to the teaching from apostolic times that the Church in General Council
is infallible. Another difference, is that divorced people who remarry are
treated in a pastoral manner and not excluded from the sacramental life of the
Church. Further, the matter of contraception is treated as a matter of personal
conscience between husband and wife. Old Catholic theology recognizes that the
Church's teaching magisterium has no less than two objects: the formation of
conscience, in which case authority has an instructive quality; and the
nurturing of a formed conscience to full maturity, in which case authority is
guiding but not directive.

Old Catholic
Communities in the United States Today

By developing new methods
and ideas with an emphasis on community, and Catholicism which expresses a
warmth and interest in the total person, Old Catholic communities are able to
address the needs of today's society at the beginning of the Third Millennium. Old Catholicism is an understanding of the Western and Eastern
traditions in one complete tradition. For the contemporary Catholic searching to
maintain his/her Faith but desiring to do so without excessive institutionalism
that often loses contact with the individual; for those with a Catholic
background who feel impeded from full participation in the life and Sacraments
of the Church; for the many unchurched who desire the joy and peace of Our
Lord's Word and His Holy Sacraments, Old Catholic communities provide a viable
alternative and allow a person to be a part of Christ's Church, and beat peace
with his/her conscience. Old Catholic communities, because of their size, can
give individual attention to the individual spiritual needs of the faithful and,
where necessary , develop unique ministries to meet those needs.

The International Free Catholic Communion and the Independent/Old Catholic
Movement

The International Free Catholic Communion participates in this
Independent/Old Catholic tradition by virtue of the fact that our bishops have
received episcopal consecration through Old Catholic, Orthodox and Roman
Catholic lines. Our Roman Catholic Apostolic Succession derives partially from
the late Carlos Duarte Costa, former Roman Catholic Bishop of Botucatu, Brazil,
who formed an independent church in the late 1940’s. Of historical note,
Bishop Salomeo Ferraz, consecrated by Costa following his separation from Rome,
was eventually received back into the Roman Catholic Church in 1960, as a
married bishop, without any "reconsecration", and was an active
participant in the Second Vatican Council.

THE DECLARATION OF UTRECHT. A TRANSLATION OF THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, OR
DECLARATION, FORMULATED BY THE OLD CATHOLIC BISHOPS ASSEMBLED AT UTRECHT.
SEPTEMBER 24TH, 1889

1. We adhere faithfully to the Rule of Faith laid down by St. Vincent of
Lerins in these terms: "Id teneamus, ubique quod semper, quod ab
onmibus creditum est; hoc est etenim vere pro- prieque catholicum." For
this reason we persevere in professing the faith of the primitive Church, as
formulated in the ecumenical symbols and specified precisely by the
unanimously accepted decisions of the Ecumenical Councils held in the
undivided Church of the first thousand years.

2. We therefore reject the decrees of the so-called Council of the Vatican,
which were promulgated on July 18th, 1870 concerning the infallibility and
the universal Episcopate of the Bishop of Rome, decrees which contradict the
faith of the ancient canonical constitution by attributing to the Pope the
plenitude of ecclesiastical powers over all Dioceses and over all the
faithful. By denial of his primatial jurisdiction, we do not wish to deny
the historic primacy which several Ecumenical Councils and the Fathers of
the ancient Church have attributed to the Bishop of Rome by recognizing him
as the Primus inter pares.

3. We also reject the dogma of the Immaculate Conception promulgated by Pius
IX in 1854 in defiance of the Holy Scriptures and the contradiction to the
tradition of the first centuries.

4. As for other Encyclicals published by the Bishops of Rome in recent times;
for example, the Bulls Unigenitus and Auctorem fidei, and the Syllabus of
1864, we reject them on all such points as are in the contradiction of the
doctrine of the primitive Church, and we do not recognize them as binding on
the conscience of the faithful. We also renew the ancient protest of the
Catholic Church of Holland against the errors of the Roman Curia, and
against its attacks upon the rights of national Churches.

5. We refuse to accept the decrees of the Council of Trent in matters of
discipline, and as for the dogmatic decisions of that Council, accept them
only so far as they are in harmony with the teaching of the primitive
Church.

6. Considering that the Holy Eucharist has always been the true central point
of Catholic worship, we consider it our duty to declare that we maintain
with perfect fidelity the ancient Catholic doctrine concerning the Sacrament
of the Altar, by believing that we receive the Body and Blood of our Savior
Jesus Christ under the species of bread and wine. The Eucharistic
celebration in the church is neither a continual repetition nor a renewal of
the expiatory sacrifice which Jesus offered once for all upon the Cross, and
it is the act by which we represent upon earth and appropriate to ourselves
the one offering which Jesus Christ makes in Heaven, according to the
Epistle to the Hebrews ix.11, 12 for the salvation of redeemed humanity, by
appearing for us in the presence of God (Heb. ix. 24). The character of the
Holy Eucharist being thus understood, it is, at the same time, a sacrificial
feast, by means of which the faithful, in receiving the Body and Blood of
our Savior, enter into communion with one another (I Cor. x. 17).

7. We hope that Catholic theologians, in maintaining the faith of the
undivided Church, will succeed in establishing an agreement upon all such
questions as caused controversy ever since the Churches became divided. We
exhort the priests under our jurisdiction to teach, both by preaching and by
instruction of the young, especially the essential Christian truths
professed by all Christian confessions, to avoid, in discussing
controversial doctrines, any violation of truth or charity, and in word and
deed to set an example to the members of our churches in accordance with the
spirit of Jesus Christ our Savior.

8. By maintaining and professing faithfully the doctrine of Jesus Christ, by
refusing to admit those errors which by the fault of men have crept into the
Catholic Church, by laying aside the abuses in ecclesiastical matters,
together with the worldly tendencies of hierarchy, we believe that we shall
be able to combat efficaciously the great evils of our day, which are
unbelief and indifference in matters of religion.

Old Catholic-several groups, including: (1) the Church of Utrecht, which
severed relations with Rome in 1724; (2) The National Polish Church in the U.S.,
which has its origin near the end of the 19th century; (3) German, Austrian and
Swiss Old Catholics, who broke away from union with Rome following the First
Vatican Council in 1870 because they objected to the dogma of papal
infallibility.

The formation of the Old Catholic communion of Germans, Austrians and Swiss
began in 1870 at a public meeting held in Nuremberg under the leadership of A.
Dolinger. Four years later Episcopal succession was established with ordination
of an Old Catholic German bishop by a prelate of the Church of Utrecht. In line
with the "Declaration of Utrecht" of 1889, they accept the first seven
ecumenical councils and doctrine formulated before 1054, but reject communion
with the pope and a number of other Roman Catholic doctrines and practices. They
have a valid priesthood and valid sacraments. The Oxford Dictionary of the
Christian Church notes that they have recognized Anglican ordinations since
1925, that they have full communion with the Church of England since 1932, and
have taken part in ordination of Anglican Bishops.